Hardships for voters are real and growing

Published 3:44 pm, Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Reluctant as I am to reply to the letters criticizing my letter about the "New Jim Crowism," I feel compelled to respond.

First, nowhere did I state that the right to vote here is universal, unqualified or non-restrictive. Everyone knows that.

The laws guaranteeing these rights are explicit and definitive. However, the present legislation by states such as Texas, Wisconsin, Virginia, North Carolina, etc., have placed undue hardship, particularly upon blacks and poor whites, formerly regular voters. These obstacles are new, cumbersome and instituted to discourage, hinder and thwart registration and the implementation of their right to vote as guaranteed by the Constitution.

Also, it is a known fact that voter fraud in this country is infinitesimal, almost to such a degree that it is, for all practical purposes, nonexistent and a hoax or ruse to say so.

Now, as for 17-year-olds, it is understood that their right to vote only is effective once they reach the age of 18. However, they have the right to register to vote at 17 in anticipation of this 18th birthdate but can't vote until then.

Regarding the notion of "change," it is true that most people do not like change provided it does not entail a subtle, clandestine and a skillful and obvious attempt to frustrate and defeat someone's right to vote by requiring credentials heretofore never needed; or changing polling places that are miles away or difficult to reach.

These are some of things to which I am referring, that have perpetuated the "New Jim Crowism" by the radical group within the Republican Party because they can't accept this black man as president of these United States of America.